Crossroads
by New Decade
Summary: Eric, Calleigh and Elizabeth end up in the same condo; miscommunication ensues.


No, I don't like Elizabeth Clark (shocker! I get she's going through stuff and all, but she can stay far away from Eric!), but if they are going to keep her in the show, this is how they should use her.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to my humble abode," Eric smiled at Elizabeth as they stepped into his condo during his lunch break.<p>

"It's nice," Elizabeth commented, admiringly, as she followed him into his kitchen.

"You want a soda or something?" he offered as he approached the refrigerator.

"Yeah, that sounds good," she nodded as she took a seat at the island.

Elizabeth's eyes traveled around the kitchen, over the granite counter top and the walls covered in a light colored paint. She liked the fact that even though his home was nice, it wasn't perfect and unbelievably clean to the extent one felt uncomfortable; she noted the dishes in the sink, the papers on the island and that many of the picture frames on the counter behind her had a thin layering of dust. The pictures caught Elizabeth's eye and she instantly became curious on their contents. Whenever Elizabeth saw Eric, the topic of discussion regularly centered on her past and her progress in the program he got her involved in; seldom did they speak of his life and it was dawning on her that there was a whole world that Eric Delko had never revealed to her, despite the fact he knew practically everything about her world.

Elizabeth's eyes scanned the photos, many consisting of Eric with his, she assumed, friends and family; she noticed one woman was frequently reoccurring in the pictures. She was a very pretty woman with fair pale skin, long blonde hair that was smooth and lustrous as it cascaded passed her shoulders and vibrant green eyes that sparkled when in the right lighting. In most of the photographs she was in, Eric was at her side with his arm constantly wrapped around her.

Elizabeth smiled at the way Eric looked at the woman; this was the first time she had seen him gaze at someone with such adoration and his eyes seemed to melt into an undying warmth, as though she were the one keeping him tied down to earth. She picked up one particular picture of Eric and the woman to give it a closer look. Eric and the blonde were standing on the porch at someone's house and their arms were wrapped securely around the other's waist. Neither were looking at the camera in the picture, they seemed too lost in each other's faces to notice someone had made them the subject of their photograph.

"This your girlfriend?" Elizabeth asked, holding up the picture.

Eric approached the counter she was standing, two cans of Pepsi in hand. "Um…not exactly," Eric sighed as he handed her the drink, his voice coated with heartache as he addressed this fact; Elizabeth could gather what that meant, the woman in the picture was his _ex-_girlfriend.

"What's her name?" she inquired, putting the picture down.

"Calleigh," he replied.

"You guys work together?" Elizabeth assumed as she bent down the metal tab of the soda to get it opened.

"Yeah," Eric nodded as he opened his own beverage.

"Is she as good of a cop as you?"

"Better," he admitted with a small grin. "She's one of the best."

Elizabeth sat back down at the island as she took a sip of the sweet, fizzy liquid. In the few pictures and brief statements he had made about this Calleigh, Elizabeth could gather the feelings he had towards her were intense, passionate, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the slightest ounce of envy towards Calleigh. Eric had been the only man in years who had treated her with respect, dignity and treated her like a normal human being. Thanks to him she was able to look at herself in the mirror and not completely hate the reflection. He made her feel better about herself, he gave her a shred of hope and, most of all, he gave her kindness. He never spat at her names like whore, hooker, tramp and all the other gutter language she had been subjected to take and that counted for more than Eric realized. In reality, however, she knew that those factors weren't enough to build a relationship on and the whole former-prostitute with a cop reminded her too much of some bad Lifetime movie and she would rather not walk that line; needless to say she had abandoned the idea of herself and Eric forming a relationship.

"So what the hell happened?" Elizabeth asked. "I mean, you guys looked so happy."

Eric laughed hollowly. "That's a long story."

"Summarize," she shrugged; Eric cocked his eyebrow at her. "C'mon, I tell you things."

Eric exhaled and took a seat beside Elizabeth; she had a point there, she _did _tell him everything about her life, how was it going to look if he didn't clue her in a little about his own? She would never fully trust him until he trusted her somewhat…and she needed to trust someone.

"Basically," he sighed. "I made a mistake, I screwed up her trust in me and…after that it just didn't work out."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding, rolling her lips as she glanced toward the pictures again. "You still love her, right? Please, you don't leave pictures those kinds of pictures out if you've stopped having feelings for someone."

Elizabeth had him pinned there, the feelings he had for Calleigh for almost five years had never once ceased and they weren't about the start now. He had lost track of how many day he stared at those pictures, longing to hold Calleigh as he did back then and never let her elude his grasp again, but those prayers remained unanswered and all he was left with was a shattered heart.

"Listen, I know I shouldn't be giving advice to _anyone_, but everyone makes mistakes," Elizabeth pointed out before taking another swig of Pepsi. "Just tell her sorry and how you feel about her."

"It's not that easy, this happened over a year ago, she's probably moved on by now," Eric said and it killed him inside of admit that aloud; the truth was a hard thing to swallow and it scorched on the way down.

"Does she have a new boyfriend?" she questioned.

"I doubt she'd tell me if she did."

"Okay, that's a no. And if this has happened a year ago, then she's had time to think about it and would probably forgive you," Elizabeth said with a shrug of her shoulder.

"No, it's not that simple," he shook his head. "It was a huge mistake and…" Eric trailed off, reliving last year's lies he told Calleigh caused his wounds to burst open and once again start to bleed; this was a trip down Memory Lane he did not want to participate in.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Eric, hello, you're looking at the _queen _of huge mistakes, look at me now, I'm figuring things out. What can it hurt to try?"

"A lot," he muttered, bitterly, taking a drink.

"Eric," she sighed, patiently. "You've helped me, now let me help you."

He chuckled. "Nothing personal, Elizabeth, but I don't think anyone can help me in this situation."

"Wanna bet?" she challenged. "Give me your cell."

"Why?" he asked, worriedly, as he hesitantly pulled out his phone. "You're not going to call her, are you?"

"Do I look like I'm stupid? Come on, give me the freaking phone," Elizabeth said, holding her palm out and patiently waited for him to hand it over. Eric had the uneasy feeling he was going to end up regretting this, but he reluctantly handed his phone to Elizabeth who began to quickly formulate a message.

"Oh, no, you're _not_ texting her," Eric stated as he made a grab for the phone, but Elizabeth was faster. She jumped to her feet and away from the island.

"And send," she smirked, triumphantly.

Eric groaned. "What did you say?"

"I asked if she could come over. I'll be long gone by the time she gets here and you two can have a heart-to-heart conversation," Elizabeth grinned.

"She's probably working."

"What? You're the only one who gets to take breaks?" she asked, sarcastically, ignoring the eye roll Eric gave her. Eric's phone vibrated in her hand, signaling Calleigh's reply. "Oh, this is interesting. She said, 'I was just on my way over there, actually to pick up a case file. I'll see you in a few.' It's funny how life works."

A rush of joy and fear spread through Eric's veins, seeing Calleigh whether at work or outside the lab always uplifted his spirits—she just effortlessly made him happy—but the dilemma came that he would possibly have to face her rejection again and he wasn't completely confident he could take it.

"Maybe I should send another telling her about the pictures you still have of her," Elizabeth teased, taking a step back from him.

Eric narrowed his eyes at her. "You wouldn't."

Elizabeth pretended to type on the phone. "'Cal, I still have all those old pictures from-.'"

He stepped towards her to attempt to make another snatch for the phone, but she out stepped him every time.

"Elizabeth," he warned in a soft, playfully threatening voice. "Remember I have the right to arrest you."

"But you won't," she replied, smugly, as she handed the phone back to Eric. "I better jet before she gets here, we don't want her getting the wrong idea."

"That would be less than helpful," he nodded. "Thanks, Elizabeth."

"No problem," she assured him. "It's the least I can do, really….Let me know how this goes."

"I will," Eric promised, closing the small gap between them and wrapping his arms around her to give her a friendly hug; Elizabeth returned his embrace and ran a reassuring hand up and down his spine.

"I'm sure everything will work out," Elizabeth whispered.

"I hope so," he sighed. Eric and Elizabeth failed to hear the sound of the apartment door opening or the sound of stilettos approaching them until it was too late. Calleigh stood there for a moment, looking upon the two embracing in the middle of his kitchen and her heart combusted; if Eric was trying to send her a message of any kind she received it loud and clear, but that didn't mean she had to stand here and take it, she cleared her throat to finally grab their attention. Eric backed out of Elizabeth's arms instantly, feeling his neck turning red and wanting to kick himself after seeing the uncharacteristic coldness in Calleigh's eyes. Elizabeth felt her heart plummet and her stomach twist uncomfortably as a silence overcame the room; she realized what this had to look like through Calleigh's eyes and Elizabeth saw the chances of Eric reconciling with her quickly dwindling.

"I hate to interrupt," Calleigh said, flatly. "But, um, the case file?"

Eric stammered stupidly for something to say, but no coherent words ever formed and he resulted in simply wandering to the island to retrieve the manila folder that contained the information for the case they had worked on the other day.

"Um, I'm going to go," Elizabeth muttered, awkwardly. Calleigh didn't look at Elizabeth as she walked passed her to get to the door and Elizabeth kept her eyes fixated firmly on the ground as she rushed out.

Calleigh crossed her arms over her chest, clenching her jaw as to not let any visible sign of pain appear on her face. Eric didn't dare look up at her until he was back in front of her and he had no other choice than to look her in the eye as he gave her the file.

"Thanks," she murmured as she slid the file into her purse.

Eric realized at any moment Calleigh was going to turn around and leave his condo, possibly for good, and he would never have another opportunity to express to her his true feelings and regret would linger over him until the end of his days.

"Cal, I wanted to talk to you about-."

"It's okay," she cut across him. "I got the message." Calleigh turned on her heel and tried to make her way towards the door, only Eric had reflexively reached up to take her arm and stop her from getting away.

"I swear to God, Calleigh, that's not what it looked like," Eric attempted to explain; though the words were so cliché he wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't believe him.

"It looks like you sent me a message about meeting you here and I run into you and your girlfriend-."

"She's _not _my girlfriend, Cal, she's just a friend I'm helping get though some stuff," he attempted to explain.

"I know who Elizabeth is," she stated. "And I've seen the way you two are together."

"Calleigh, she needs a friend and that's all," he insisted.

Every fiber within Calleigh wanted to believe every word Eric said, that this was all just an unfortunate coincidence and perhaps some of his prior feelings did still exist, but her walls of steel had once again been raised. The truth was that these walls that now kept Eric out were the same ones that kept her feelings for him barricaded in her heart. She had hoped that her love for Eric would slowly evaporate and then one day vanish and then they could exist in a comfortable situation, for Calleigh was certain that the mutual trust they once had would never be rebuilt and she wasn't going to waste time by waiting in vain.

"So it's just a coincidence that I showed up the second she was here?" Calleigh asked, incredulously.

"This sounds bogus, but yes, it is sort of a coincidence," he sighed, knowing there was a slim chance Calleigh would buy it.

"Sort of?" she demanded. "How can it be _sort of_ a coincidence?"

Eric chose his words carefully to explain this delicate situation; one syllable out of place and Calleigh could easily get the wrong impression about this afternoon's meeting. "Elizabeth and I were catching up, then we started talking about you."

"Me?" Calleigh asked, puzzled. "How did I come up?"

Eric gave her a tiny grin and offered her his hand; Calleigh stared questionably at his palm for a moment before allowing him to take her hand in his larger one. He gently led her deeper into the kitchen and in front of the framed pictures Elizabeth had been staring at barely fifteen minutes ago. Eric released Calleigh's hand and picked up the same photograph Elizabeth had asked him about earlier and handed it to Calleigh.

Calleigh examined it for a moment, her face pulling into a half smile as she reflected on the day it was taken. They were at Carmen and Pavel's house to celebrate the birthday of one of Eric's sisters and Carmen had been taking pictures left and right the majority of the day and this particular one had been dubbed as one of her favorites.

"I can't believe you kept this out after so long," she shook her head in disbelief, unable to resist smiling.

"That's sort of what Elizabeth said. She, um, took that as a sign that I still have, um," Eric began to hesitate as butterflies began to swarm his stomach and his gaze dropped down to his feet; he started to feel ridiculous for being so nervous. "That I still have feelings for you."

"And was she right?" Calleigh asked, curiously as she raised an eyebrow.

Eric looked back up from the ground, took the picture frame from her to place back on the counter before cupping his hand delicately around the side of her face.

"Yes," he whispered, his thumb brushing against the corner of her mouth. "I never stopped."

Calleigh felt her cheeks start to burn and she was certain Eric could feel it against his palm, which only made her cheeks increase in temperature even more. Before she knew what was happening, Eric's lips were against hers, tenderly caressing them as his hand slid behind her neck and his fingers weaved themselves into her hair. There were so many reasons why this was wrong, why this shouldn't be happening, but her heart seemed to be ignoring all the logical reasons and was screaming just how _right_ this was and she found herself kissing him back. Eric's lips were so soft, so warm and so delectably sweet that she never wanted to release his lips, but she still had a few questions that needed to be answered.

"So that hug was…?"

"Us saying goodbye because we didn't want you to get the wrong idea when you came over," Eric admitted. "It didn't work out so well, though."

"No," Calleigh shook her head with a broad smile, which slowly fell as she took Eric's hands in her own. "You know, I've missed you and…I've never stopped caring about you, either, but you know we can't just pick up where we left off, right?"

Eric nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know."

"But maybe we can try getting a bite to eat sometime?" Calleigh suggested, giving his fingers a light squeeze. "Sometime soon?"

"How about right now?" Eric asked. "We still have some time on our lunch break and you just happen to be standing in one of the best restaurants in Miami."

Calleigh laughed lightly and nodded. "Sounds good."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading, I'm sorry it was kinda short. Just curious, my fellow fanfictionites, what do you thinkhope is going to happen now that we have this Elizabeth in the show? Do you think they're trying to form something there with her and Eric *vomits* or do you think the writers are using her as a tool to reconnect our beloved E/C?


End file.
